DIY Rustic Wooden Sign

In case you missed it in my previous post, my dear friend Nikki got married this weekend. I wanted to make something special for her new home as she begins a new life with a new last name.

I had been admiring the vintage wooden signs that you see everywhere online. Here's a little secret about me.... I'm just crazy enough to believe I can do anything I set my mind to, so I decided to make one myself. It was actually super easy. Here's how I did it: (Warning: This post is very picture heavy, stay with me :)  )



First I cut a 1"x 6" board to my desired length. For this one, I made it just a little shorter than the width of a door or window frame.

I used white wood from Lowes. It's pretty inexpensive and easy to work with. If you can get your hands on some old barn wood that would look better. There aren't a lot of old barns in Rocket City - Huntsville, AL, I'll have to go digging around in my hometown of Holly Pond for that.




Next, I put a coat of stain on the wood
so that it wouldn't look so "new" when I distressed it.

 Then I gave it a light coating of spray paint. I let it dry and then used my mouse sander to rough up the paint job a little. I paid special attention to the ends and the edges. I wanted to see some of the wood through the paint.

 Lettering. This was the hardest part. I have terrible handwriting. I blame it on being left handed. I picked a nice block font and printed off her name in a large font and then lined it up on my board. I used a pen to trace the outline of the letter onto the board. Be sure to press down pretty hard so the pen will leave an indention on the wood underneath.




Next I took a sharpie paint pen and went over the outlines. Be sure to use a paint pen and not a regular sharpie. A regular sharpie will have that weird purple metallic look from the side. It also doesn't sand as well.


Once I had my outlines traced, I filled in the letters with a small paintbrush and some acrylic craft paint.


After it has completely dried, I took my mouse sander and LIGHTLY sanded over the lettering. It is very important that you make sure the paint is completely dry, if not, you will smear the whole thing and have to start over. (not that I know from experience *cough*)




Finally, I added two picture hanging brackets on the back. Be sure you measure so that they are equally spaced from the ends. (Unless you want to play a joke on the person you are giving it to, it would  make it ridiculously hard to hang straight)

TA DA!  Here is the finished product. I didn't hang it on my wall for a photo because I would have had to make two holes in the wall, but you get the idea.

 

 



If you decide to make your own, be sure to link up with me! I'd love to see it!

Thanks for stopping by!!

~Amanda